Insights into the micro- and nano-architecture of materials is crucial for understanding and predicting their macroscopic behaviour. In particular, for emerging applications such as meta-materials, the micrometer scale becomes highly relevant. The micro-architecture of such materials can be tailored to exhibit specific mechanical, optical or electromagnetic behaviours. Consequently, quality contro

High quality gratings are among the key elements for successful imaging with X-ray grating interferometry. Grating fabrication, specifically of absorption gratings, with high aspect ratio and large area, is a great challenge from a microfabrication point of view. In this paper the fabrication of absorption gratings by seedless electroplating of gold in high aspect ratio silicon moulds that are fab

X-ray grating interferometry is an excellent technique for X-ray phase contrast imaging and X-ray wavefront sensing with applications in materials science, biology and medical diagnosis. Among other requirements, the method depends on the availability of highly X-ray absorbing metallic gratings. Here, we report on the fabrication and characterization of high aspect ratio iridium gratings with a pe

Small angle X-ray scattering has been proven to be a valuable method for accessing structural information below the spatial resolution limit implied by direct imaging. Here, we theoretically derive the relation that links the subpixel differential phase signal provided by the sample to the moments of scattering distributions accessible by refraction sensitive X-ray imaging techniques. As an import

Despite the fact that the resolution of conventional contact/proximity lithography can reach feature sizes down to ∼0.5-0.6 micrometers, the accurate control of the linewidth and uniformity becomes already very challenging for gratings with periods in the range of 1-2 μm. This is particularly relevant for the exposure of large areas and wafers thinner than 300 μm. If the wafer or mask surface is n

Dense colloidal dispersions exhibit complex wave-vector-dependent diffusion, which is controlled by both direct particle interactions and indirect nonadditive hydrodynamic interactions mediated by the solvent. In bulk the hydrodynamic interactions are probed routinely, but in confined geometries their studies have been hitherto hindered by additional complications due to confining walls. Here we s

Neutron imaging and scattering give data of significantly different nature and traditional methods leave a gap of accessible structure sizes at around 10 micrometers. Only in recent years overlap in the probed size ranges could be achieved by independent application of high resolution scattering and imaging methods, however without providing full structural information when microstructures vary on

Hard X-ray dark-field and phase contrast imaging using grating interferometry have shown great potential for medical and industrial applications. However, the wide spread applicability of the method is challenged by a number of technical related issues such as relatively low dose and flux efficiency due to the absorption grating, fabrication of high quality absorption gratings, slow data acquisiti

Metal microstructured optical elements for grating-based X-ray phase-contrast interferometry were fabricated by using an innovative approach of microcasting: hot embossing technology with low melting temperature (280 °C) metal alloy foils and silicon etched templates. A gold-tin alloy (80 wt% Au/20 wt% Sn) was used to cast micro-gratings with pitch sizes in the range of 2 to20 μm and depth of the

MÖNCH is a 25 mm-pitch charge-integrating detector aimed at exploring the limits of current hybrid silicon detector technology. The small pixel size makes it ideal for high-resolution imaging. With an electronic noise of about 110 eV r.m.s., it opens new perspectives for many synchrotron applications where currently the detector is the limiting factor, e.g. inelastic X-ray scattering, Laue diffrac

X-ray phase contrast imaging enables the measurement of the electron density of a sample with high sensitivity compared to the conventional absorption contrast. This is advantageous for the study of dose-sensitive samples, in particular, for biological and medical investigations. Recent developments relaxed the requirement for the beam coherence, such that conventional X-ray sources can be used fo

The collective diffusion of dense fluids in spatial confinement is studied by combining high-energy (21 keV) x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy and small-angle x-ray scattering from colloid-filled microfluidic channels. We find the structural relaxation in confinement to be slower compared to the bulk. The collective dynamics is wave vector dependent, akin to the de Gennes narrowing typically o

Self-assembly gold nanostructured membranes are created to mechanically stabilize the catalyst movement during metal assisted chemical etching. This results in an improved vertical control of the etching profile for high aspect ratio silicon microstructures. The new method is a robust and cheap microfabrication for dense micro-patterns on a large area, such as diffraction gratings for hard X-ray p

Multiple scattering represents a challenge for numerous modern tomographic imaging techniques. In this Letter, we derive an appropriate line integral that allows for the tomographic reconstruction of angular resolved scattering distributions, even in the presence of multiple scattering. The line integral is applicable to a wide range of imaging techniques utilizing various kinds of probes. Here, w

OBJECTIVE: Administration of testosterone has been reported to increase serum levels of IGF-I in men with isolated hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism. An inverse relation between serum IGF-I and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) is seen in GH deficient children. The biological action of IGF-I is thought to be influenced by binding proteins, one of which is insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-

We examined the effect of GH supplementation on the psychological capacity and sense of well-being in 36 patients with adult-onset GH deficiency (GHD). Recombinant human GH was given in a 21-month cross-over, double blind trial, and quality of life was assessed by using three self-rating questionnaires: the Hopkins Symptom Check List (HSCL), the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP), and the Psychologic

In an attempt to study further the age-specific influence on the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis as well as the hypothalamo-pituitary-thyroid axis, we have now investigated young and middle-aged men, considering possible confounding factors. Both serum total testosterone, free testosterone and the total ratio of testosterone to sex-hormone binding globulin were significantly lower among middle-

OBJECTIVE: Hypothyroidism can be complicated by bleeding symptoms such as easy bruising, menorrhagia and sometimes even a severe bleeding tendency with fatal outcome. Usually there is a prolonged bleeding time, or a low plasma concentration of coagulation factor VIII (FVIII) or von Willebrand factor (vWF). The aim of the present study was to investigate the acute haemostatic effect of desmopressin